Fare Thee Well, My Own True Love
by Golden-Heart the 2nd
Summary: Korra realises who she really loves. But it is too late. Angsty one-sided Korrlok. Continuation of the brutal finale ending. Written for the Korrlok Task Force Fandom group at tumblr. Title from the Mary Chapin Carpenter song "10,000 Miles." Rated T for thematic material.


**Korrlok Task Force Fandom Ficlets **

**Prompt: Mask **

**Time given: 1 hour **

**Time taken: 53 minutes **

**Participants: lunarblue21, mieziemies, cartoonjessie, scarletts-boobs, lamademoisellerouge **

**Summary: Korra realises who she really loves. But it is too late. Angsty one-sided Korrlok fic. Written for the Korrlok Task Force Fandom Ficlets group. **

Korra sank to the soft carpet of snow blanketing the South Pole. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She had just returned – from saying goodbye to the one she loved.  
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Just that morning, unexpected news had arrived, but she had not heard of it until midday, at lunch.

"Good afternoon, Korra," Tenzin greeted her as she moved to sit down at the table, followed by her friends, the nonbender Asami, the firebender Mako and his earthbender brother, Bolin. "We've just received a dispatch from Republic City."

"About what?" Korra asked around a mouthful of one of Pema's delicious dumplings, not expecting any earth-shattering news. After all, everything in Republic City was slowly returning to normal. However, Hiroshi Sato was now leading the ranks of the nonbenders, so that was another fact that Korra would have to later deal with. She wanted to avoid it now since she knew it caused so much pain to Asami.

The Lieutenant, Amon's second-in-command had been found buried under a pile of wooden planks and was now being restored to health at Air Temple Island. His cries echoed through the night as he called out for Amon – though sometimes Korra heard him yelling for _Noatak, _which made her wonder just how deep the two's friendship was – wrenching at her heart whenever she walked past his room.

No word had been heard of the revolutionary and the former politician since the day that Korra had exposed Amon for a waterbender. Many, like Tenzin, had assumed that they had escaped and were well out of the reach of Republic City's jurisdiction of the law.

Korra felt Mako's stare settle on her, making her uncomfortable. She never blushed when Mako looked at her as if she was made of jade, instead she felt constricted. It was an unpleasant emotion, she thought, fondly recalling her days on the Task Force, fighting alongside Tarrlok against the Equalists. She always did love adrenaline pumping through her veins, it was something she lived for, and Tarrlok had provided her with that. Sure, being part of the Fire Ferrets Pro-Bending team was fun as well, but the thrills were slight in comparison to the dangers present on the Task Force.

"Korra?" Tenzin's voice called her back from her introspection. "Don't you want to know what the dispatch from Republic City is? It's been sent by Lin Beifong."

"Yes, yes, I do want to know what it is," Korra replied. In a moment she would regret the haste she had said those words, wishing that she could summon them back. Tenzin gave her a pointed look before he added,

"The dispatch from Republic City is a telegram from Lin," He said. "In short, the message details how two bodies have been found washed up on the shores of the City." He paused, placing his palm on his head as if in regret, something which alarmed Korra. _This can't be good news. I hope Tarrlok is all right and that he escaped to safety with Noatak…. _

Tenzin's next words dashed her hopes. "One of them was the man you unmasked at the Equalist rally… Noatak, you've said his name was… and the other was a man wearing a blue silk suit…"

_Please don't let it be Tarrlok, _Korra whispered to herself, realising in that moment how unaware she had been of how strong her emotions for the councilman had been. It had hurt to see him crippled, without his bending, the former mask of his self-confident politician's face completely broken. She had wanted more than anything for him to come with them (if anything to break up the monotony that was being with Mako) but he had refused.

"… and the man wearing blue had his face so disfigured by burns and the right half of his body so burnt away that Lin and the other police had trouble identifying him at first… It was councilman Tarrlok."

"No!" Korra gasped, wanting to reject Tenzin's words, reject the truth and utter finality of them. She rose to her feet, drawing surprised and confused glances from everyone seated at the table. Flames immediately flickered onto her palms as she stalked towards Tenzin, her face a mask of barely-contained fury,

"Tell me it isn't true!" She heard her own voice plead, tears fringing her eyelashes. Tenzin looked up at her and then across at his mother, Sifu Katara, who nodded at him, although she was sure…

"Korra, I thought you hated the man," Tenzin stated, seemingly unaware of the rage and grief that was building in Korra.

"He didn't deserve to die," Korra mussitated. "He can't be dead. Tell me he isn't dead!" She implored.

Tenzin stared at her, his grey eyes brimming with sadness,

"I'm sorry, Korra."

"Take me to him – and then we can return to the South Pole," Korra said, finally letting the tears cascade down her cheeks. Dimly, she was aware of Tenzin coming next to her and enfolding her in his arms. Sobbing, she extinguished her fire and let herself fall into his embrace, but there was no solace.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lin escorted her into the morgue of the police station. Korra stepped forward, wincing as she took in the sight of the body bags. The heads of both men hung out of them onto the wooden tables. Tenzin had been right. Noatak's body didn't appear to be badly burned, but his brother's was another matter.

His entire right side of his face was burned away. She watched mournfully as the police assistants removed the bodies from the body bags, laying them out in full view on the table. It was more obvious to her now how badly Tarrlok had been burned – his entire right side of his body was charred, the silken clothes he wore blackened from the explosion. Droplets of blood trickled from the wounds on his side.

"Korra," Lin's voice said. Korra turned to see the Chief of Police holding out an Equalist glove to her. "He was found wearing this."

Silently, Korra took it from Lin, who walked out of the room, followed by her police assistants, leaving Korra alone with the bodies of the revolutionary and the councilman.

She tried to hold back the tears as she crossed over to where Tarrlok lay. She looked down at him, noticing for the first time that despite the burns on his face, he was smiling a smile full of peace and sincerity.

She gazed down at him, revelling in the beauty that still shone in his face. Placing the Equalist glove next to his body, she leaned down next to his face, planting a soft kiss onto it,

"I love you, Tarrlok."

**Fin**

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**Gaaah, that ending! Just reading it makes me want to cry again. Once again, I apologise if any Korrlokers have their hearts and feels ravaged open by this piece, mine was too, so please review if it struck at your heartstrings and commiserate with me over this! TT-TT By the way, I promise next time our group does a prompt, it'll be a happier Korrlok! I promise! Writing this fic saddled me with the same depression that seeing Tarrlok's death in the finale gave me that I couldn't shake off for days. So much for my resolve to not let myself get "emotionally invested" in the lives of fictional characters, ugggh. -_- **

**Review? **


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